Review of 48 Hrs. (1982) by Matthew B — 18 Mar 2013

A full five years before Lethal Weapon, I give you the true pioneer of the salt & pepper buddy movie. OK, I'm sure there are earlier examples but what the hell, I'm sure this is a lot more fun! I guess you could say 48 hrs is fairly typical for an 80's cop buddy flick but it's a hugely entertaining entry in the genre with cracking dialogue, moody visuals (the realistically busy police station and foggy, neon-lit Chinatown back alley being highlights, the former hosting a memorable 5-minute one-shot scene) and cult 80's cast - Nick "no-one can yell quite like me" Nolte, Eddie Murphy playing it straighter than you'd expect, James Remar rocking the most awesome look ever with beard and knitted wifebeater, Sonny "Billy from Predator" Landham, Brion James, David Patrick Kelly who co-starred with James Remar back in The Warriors (funnily enough his character in both movies is named Luther) and Frank McRae playing a *gasp* shouty police chief.

Even Denise Crosby, aka Tasha Yar from Star Trek TNG shows up in a couple of short scenes. She does get her tits out in one though so it's all good. Speaking of which, of course there's unnecessary nudity, what 80's action movie would be complete without it? Best line, courtesy of Nolte's hardass cop Jack Cates: "This sucks! A maniac gets a hold of my gun and runs all over the streets killing people with it.

So instead of being where I ought to be, home in bed with my gal giving her the high hard one, I'm out here doing this shit, roaming around the streets with an overdressed, charcoal-colored loser like you.

" One last thing - a drinking game for every time Cates says "goddamn" is now officially added to my "things I have to do before I die" list!